Water-softening apparatus.



VCASS L. ,KENNICOTL OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO THE PEBMUTIT COMPANY OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

WATER-SOFTENING APPARATUS. v

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented-July 9, 1918.

Application led March 20, 1916. Serial No. 85,383.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Cass L. KENNIooT'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago Heights, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Water-Softening Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements 1n apparatus 'for softening hard water, more particularly to that form of .apparatus 1n which certain base-exchanging substances are utilized as reagents.

The .object of this invention is to provide a form of apparatus in which these substances, forl instance thezeolites, may be used most economically and conveniently.

The invention 'will be fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates in longitudinal vertical section one form of apparatus embodying the invention.

1n the drawing 1 designates a vertical cylindrical drum, provided with upper and lower convex heads 2 and 3. Adjacent the upper head a valved inlet pipe 4 is tapped in through the wall of the drum, and in the center of the lower` head a valved outlet pipe 5 is provided. A short distance above the lower head is mounted a reticulatedpartition 6 on which lies a relatively thin bed of gravel 7. This gravel bed supports and prevents the escape of a relatively large mass of the active water softening agent, such as the zeolites referred to, in the form of a nely divided permeable mass.

On the top of the bed 8 there is a second gravel bed 9, also relatively thin, and' terminating some distance below the inlet pipe 4. In the center of the convex head 2 there ismounted a valve housing 10, having an .inwardly facing valve seat 11 at its upper end, opening to a vent pipe or directly to the atmosphere as shown, a ball float 12 having a valve member 13 adapted to engage `the seat 11, being mounted within the casing and guided by a depending stem 14.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: A

The hard water to be softened will enter through the pipe 4, filling the chamber above the upper gravel .bed 9, and rising within the valve casing 10 willlift the float 12 the lower Gravel bed t, and out of draw-off or outlet plp'e 5. y

- It will be understood that the water softening action of the base-exchanging substance is in general purely a surface reaction. That is, it takes place only through the contact of the hard water with the surfaces `of solid base-exchanging substance. It will further be well understood by those familiar with the art that such base-exchanging lsubstancesy have only a limited activity, becoming spent in a relatively short time and requiring regeneration with chemicals before they may be further used. By reason of these considerations it is of the utmost importance that the water passing 'through the bed of softening material bev permitted to contact withthe maximum surface of the material, and .furthermore that the speed or rate oflow of the water through the bed be uniform throughout its cross section and length. This vconsideration applies equally to the process of regeneration, in which the regenerating substance in the form of an aqueous solution is passed, through in exactly the same manner as is the water to be softened.

The desired results are obtained thel form of apparatus illustrated in the simplest and most effective manner. The incoming stream of raw water, which in general practice will be pumped through the pipe 4 under considerable pressure, will completely -fill the chamber above the gravel bed 9, and exert a uniform downward pressure over the entire cross-sectionall area thereof, any air which is contained within the water rising to the surface and escaping through the valve opening in the casing 10. It is only when the chamber has been completely filled and the water has risen to the level of the float 12 that the valve will be closed. A solid column of water will therefore move downwardy through the apparatus at a uni- I form ratel at every point of its cross section,

-tering air will promptly rise to the surface of the relativel quiescent. body above the bed 9, and a sufihient uantity of air having accumulated within t e valve housing 10, float 12 will drop and permit its escape in the manner before described. The apparatus therefore acts automatically to maintain the desired condition of'affairs at all times.

The operation and advantages of the structure during the regenerating of the softening re-agent will be the same.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail .one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this showing and'de'scription is illustrative only and for the purpose of making the invention more clear, and that I do not regard my invention as limited to these details of construction, nor to any of them, exceptin so' far-as I have included such limitations with in the 'terms of the accompanying claims in which it is myfintentionto claim all novelty a vertical drum, a raw water inlet in the upper portion of the drum, a softened water outlet in the lower portion of the drum, a permeable bed of basefexchanging substance arranged to afford a uniform cross-sectional area throughout its depth and mounted in the intermediate portion of the drum and below the said inlet, a float lying above vthe said bed and an'air outlet valve actuated by the ioat, whereby asolid column of water 'may move downward at a uniform velocity through the entire cross-sectional area of the bed. Y f

' CASS L. KENNICOTT. In the presence of v A O. C. AvIsUs,

JOSEPH SCHWARTZ. 

